Macy’s announced this week that the company plans to hire 86,000 seasonal positions for the upcoming holiday shopping season this year.

Seasonal employees will have the option to work full or part time at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department stores, call centers, distribution centers and online fulfillment centers nationwide on a temporary basis. Holiday hiring is up 3.6 percent this year — the retailer hired 83,000 associates in 2013 for the holiday season.

Macy’s will be hiring more than 1,500 employees to man its 12 stores on the west coast of Florida.

“Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s are favorite places to shop throughout the holidays, and we strive to welcome and serve our customers with a consistently high level of care and attention, whether they are shopping in stores, online via desktop or on mobile devices,” said Terry J. Lundgren, Macy’s, Inc. chairman and chief executive officer. “We first offer our current associates the opportunity to work extra hours over the holidays, then supplement our ongoing workforce with seasonal hires. All of our associates enjoy a special experience working in our fast-paced business during this festive time of the year.”
Seasonal workforce has grown significantly in the retailer’s online fulfillment sectors as online shopping continues to become a larger part of how consumers show. This year, Macy’s plans to hire 10,000 workers for its direct-to-consumer fulfillment megacenters around the country.

Looking for a seasonal job? Check out retail reporter Justine Griffin’s tips on how to apply here.

“These seasonal positions represent much-needed jobs for America, and they fill an important niche in the employment spectrum. Especially at the holidays, we employ students working during break to help pay tuition, retirees seeking to remain active and individuals from many walks of life wanting to supplement their income. We are proud to offer them this opportunity to work in a fun, fast-paced and respectful environment,” Lundgren said.

“We have many examples of associates who started with us in temporary seasonal positions and stayed to enjoy a long and fulfilling career with our company. Seasonal employment is often an opportunity to get to know potential future employees and to identify talent that we can recruit as needs arise,” Lundgren said. “The holidays are a magical time of year, and helping customers select gifts from Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s is a special experience that generations of associates have enjoyed and found rewarding.”

Macy’s employs about 172,500 associates on a year-round basis.

Earlier this month, Toys R Us announced it will hire 45,000 seasonal workers nationwide, which includes 2,1000 workers in Florida, and around 450 in the Tampa Bay area.

Photo by Dan Wagner, Herald-Tribune staff

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

Retail brands in the mall are hiring for full-time and part-time positions. Applicants should come dressed in professional attire and have copies of their resume. Applicants will be interviewed on site during the fair.

The following companies will be looking to hire employees at the job fair:

The new Macy’s department store in the Mall at University Town Center is unlike any Macy’s Southwest Florida shoppers have seen.

The pristine, sleek two-story department store will bring new brand names and merchandise to the region for the first time. Read more about the new Macy’s here and check out a photo gallery of the new department store here.

The Mall at University Town Center opens on Oct. 16.

Interested in being apart of the What’s in Store video series? Pitch your story ideas to Justine directly by emailing her here.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

Macy’s is hiring for all sales and support positions at its new store in the Mall at University Town Center, which opens Oct. 16.

The two-level, 160,000-square-foot department store that will anchor the mall will need about 175 associates to run the store. Macy’s employment center opened July 26 at 8201 S. Tamiami Trail, for scheduling interviews and training. One employment kiosk is available, but applicants are encouraged to apply online here. All qualified applicants will be emailed to schedule an interview.

The employment center is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more job opportunities at the Mall at University Town Center, click here.

Last month, Macy’s announced it will close its Desoto Square Mall department store. The Bradenton mall Macy’s store employed 127 people, who will be considered for positions at the new mall. The Desoto Square Mall location will likely close next month.

To see a full list of retailers coming to the Mall at University Town Center, click here.

Macy’s operates 13 department stores in the Tampa Bay area, including in Westfield Group’s Sarasota Square Mall and Southgate Mall. Both Sarasota stores will remain open for the time being.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

Teicher Theaters, the longtime discount movie theater in Desoto Square Mall, closed for good this week.

The theater closed its doors on Aug. 11. It’s the second tenant in the mall to announce its departure since the Desoto Square Mall was sold at auction online earlier this month. The Macy’s department store in Desoto Square Mall said it will close before the Mall at University Town Center, a new luxury mall being built at University Parkway and Interstate 75, opens in October. Going out of business sales are expected to go on through mid-September.

At this time, it is not clear who is the winning bidder of the Desoto Square Mall. The auction closed with the highest bid of $33.75 million for the 680,271-square-foot property.

In the mean time, the mall will remain open, said general manager, Richard Bedford.

“We already have a successor for the dollar theater0 and should have a lease executed within a couple of weeks,” Bedford said.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

The Macy’s department store at Desoto Square Mall will close by the end of the year, according to company officials.

Employees at the Bradenton mall were told Thursday that the 132,000-square-foot Macy’s department store, which opened in the mall in the 1970s as a Burdines, will close. Clearance sales will begin Monday, Aug. 4, and are expected to run through mid-September, said Melissa Goff, spokeswoman for Macy’s.

It is unclear at this time when the department store will shutter for good. Goff said that will depend on sales.

The Macy’s store at Desoto Square Mall employs 127 people. Most will be offered positions at the Mall at University Town Center, which is just 10 miles away from the Desoto location. Macy’s plans to hire 175 employees to staff the new department store at the Mall at UTC, Goff said.

DeSoto is easily the weakest retail mall player in the region, at a time when Southwest Florida is poised to be the only part of the country opening a new enclosed mall.

Macy’s operates 13 department stores in the Tampa Bay area, including in Westfield Group’s Sarasota Square Mall and Southgate Mall. Both Sarasota stores will remain open for the time being.

Macy’s is one of three anchors at the new $315 million Mall at University Town Center, which will open on Oct. 16. Saks Fifth Avenue announced last year it will leave Southgate Mall for the Mall at UTC when it opens.

Desoto Square Mall, which is currently up for sale by auction, has struggled to retain quality tenants over the years.

Lease documents enclosed in the auction details shows that Macy’s extended its lease of its anchor space to Jan. 30, 2023 last year. Prior to the extension, Macy’s lease would have expired April 15, 2015.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.

An auction to sell off Bradenton’s Desoto Square Mall is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

The 680,271-square-foot mall, anchored by J.C. Penney and Sears, is listed on the website auction.com with a starting bid of $9 million for the entire 73.5-acre parcel.

Great Neck, New York-based Mason Asset Management bought the mall from Simon Property Group for $24.6 million in 2012. Despite its track record of turning struggling centers into prosperous ones, Mason has invested very little in the property.

Can’t wait until Oct. 16 to see inside the new $315 million luxury mall in Sarasota? Here are a few opportunities to get inside before the grand opening:

Macy’s will host a charity-drive sneak peek event at its new store in the Mall at University Town Center from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 11.

The event will benefit several dozen local charities, including A Life Story Foundation, Art Center Sarasota Inc. and Brides Against Breast Cancer.

Customers must buy a $5 ticket to enter, but they receive a coupon for $10 off a $25 purchase. Patrons can also enjoy free food and entertainment and have the chance to win a $500 Macy’s gift card. Tickets are on sale at Habitat for Humanity Sarasota. For more information, click here.

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Saks Fifth Avenue will host a grand opening party inside its 80,000-square-foot department store at the Mall at University Town Center from 5:30 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 14.

The Saks preview is a Key to the Cure fundraiser, with proceeds going to Women’s Cancer Care Programs at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

Tickets cost $100 per person, or $150 per patron. For more information, call the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation at 917-1286. To register, click here.

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To see a full list of retailers coming to the Mall at University Town Center, click here.

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The Mall at University Town Center will host its own sneak-peek charity event from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 15 — the night before the mall opens to the rest of the public.

Taubman Centers officials expected to sell 2,500 tickets, at $100 a pop, for the event, which is already sold out.

For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.